Musical Instruments – Music Around The World July 28, 2016 muacbbif Uncategorized 0 Music itself is a special word that has it own complete meaning. It is best and precious creation of human being, which rejuvenate ourselves and touch our soul. Due to its high impact on people, it is capable of breaking the boundaries to unit people from different heritage and backgrounds. This is the pleasant sound which gives ear-soothing effects. Music also have healing power, it can relax our tense muscles of body. If you want to show or express your feelings in the front of someone special then you can take the helping hand of music because it is a source for everyone to tell their mood and feelings. There are a huge range of musical instruments, all are played with different methods and give pleasant sounds. Each instrument has unique power and sound that mesmerize not only people infact animals too. With the advancement in technology many new instruments have coming up each day with perfect sound. Basically five types of instruments are found around the world these are as following: 1) Aerophones 4) Chordophones 5) Electronic Instruments 1) Aerophones: These are the instruments that generate music through vibration of air.

Types of Aerophones are as followings: a) Recorders: It is the woodwind instrument.It is one of the duct flute which is popular in western classical tradtion. It has thumb hole for the upper hand and seven finger holes. These are available in different sizes which produce different vocal ranges. Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass are the types of recorders. b) Panpipes: It is also called syrinx or pan flutes. It is wind instrument having the cane pipes or flutes of different length, they are tied together in the form of bundle by wax or cord. Each pipe providing a different note. c) Clarinets: It is the younger woodwind instrument. It has single reed. They are bigger than a recorder. It is made of generally with black grenadilla wood, silver plated keys and having cylinderical bore. d) Saxophones: It is also the part of woodwind musical instrument. Made of brass and its single reed mouthpiece. Which is similar to the clarinet. Basically used in classical music. The players are known as saxophonists. e) Oboes: It is double reed woodwind instrument.

Its played in soprano or treble rangle commonly. In this instrument sound is produced by blowing into the reed. f) Bassoons: Its double reed in the form and plays music written in the bass. g) Bagpipes: It is the aerophone instrument having enclosed reeds. In this form air is reservoir in the bag. It gives melody sounds everytime. h) Trumpets: This one is the popular instrument used in classical and jazz ensembles. In ancient time it was used as signaling device for battle and haunting. i) Mouth organs: It is another aerophone device. It is free reed in form. It can be commonly found around the world. j) Whistle Flutes: It is reedless instrument comes under the woodwind group. The sound is produced by blowing the air across an opening. Commonly find in India. Moreover Tubas, Cornets, Bugles, Organs, Concertinas, Trombones, End-Blown, Side-Blown, Horns are the types of aerophones. 2) Idiophones: These are the instruments which are made of material and create natural sounds.

Following are the types of idiophones: a) Tapping Feet: It is one type of instrument where sound is produced with tapping feet. It is common and easily feel in our daily life. b) Clapping Hands: Since our childhood we feel this sound and it is the common type of instrument. Joining of our two hands give perfect sound. c) Stamping Sticks: You can also hear this type of sound by stamping the sticks. d) Steel Drums: These are also known as steelpan. Musician of this instrument is called pannists. This is invented in Trinidad and Tobago. e) Slit Drums: Its not a drum but a idiophone carved from bamboo or wood. These have number of slits in this instrument. f) Xylophones: In this type the wooden bars is usually struck by mallets. It gives melodic voice ranges. Besides all above Gongs, Bells, Cymbals, Castanets are the some types of idiophones. 3) Membranophones: They produce sound by the vibration of membrane or skin.

Types of this kind of instrument is as following: a) Drums: In this kind of instrument one membrane is used which is stretched over the a shell and its called drumhead or skin. The melody sound in this kind is created by using of sticks known as drum stick or by player’s hands. b) Mirliton: It is device where sound is produced by waves or instrument vibrance of skin. c) Kazoo: It is kind of mirliton where skin or membrane is set on the wall of short tube. 4) Chordophones: In this kind of instrument sound is generated with the vibration of strings. Following are the types of chordophones: a) Pianos: It is musical device that produce sounds by pressing the set of keys on keyboard. In this instrument one can use his both hands. It is widely used in classical, traditional and jazz ensemble. b) Guitars: It is the string device having 4 to 18 strings. The melody sound in this instrument is generated by plucking or strumming the strings with right hand. c) Banjos: In this device the membrane is stretched over the frame and it has four to five strings. It is a folk instrument.

d) Violins: It is a wooden instrument. It is available in smallest and highest pitched. It usually has four strings. e) Harps: It is kind of device where number of strings running at an angle to its soundboard. The sound in this type of instrument is generated by plucking with the fingers. f) Violas: Its another type of string instrument. Its slighter larger than the violin and having deeper sound than the violin. Some other types are Lyres, Ukeless, Cellos, Kits, Zithers, Dulcimers, Clavichords, Harpsichords are also the chordophones. 5) Electronic Instruments: In these types of musical instruments sound is produced by amplified or electricity. Types of electronic instruments are as below: a) Electric Guitar: It is same like the guitar having strings and generate sounds by plucks and finger picks but it used electrical impulses which is plus point in the guitars. b) Electric Pianos: It is another electronic musical instrument that produce sound by pressing the keys on piano. c) Music Boxes: It is automatic musical instrument that generate sounds by use of a set of pins.

Other electronic devices are Electric Organs, Electric Basses, Drum Machines, Carillons and Theremins musical instrument | Britannica.com Musical instrument Musical instrument, any device for producing a musical sound. The principal types of such instruments, classified by the method of producing sound, are percussion , stringed , keyboard , wind , and electronic . Children playing musical instruments. A discussion of the landmark music museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, from the documentary … Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Musical instruments are almost universal components of human culture: archaeology has revealed pipes and whistles in the Paleolithic Period and clay drums and shell trumpets in the Neolithic Period . It has been firmly established that the ancient city cultures of Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, India , East Asia, and the Americas all possessed diverse and well-developed assortments of musical instruments, indicating that a long previous development must have existed. As to the origin of musical instruments, however, there can be only conjecture.

Some scholars have speculated that the first instruments were derived from such utilitarian objects as cooking pots (drums) and hunting bows (musical bows); others have argued that instruments of music might well have preceded pots and bows; while in the myths of cultures throughout the world the origin of music has frequently been attributed to the gods, especially in areas where music seems to have been regarded as an essential component of the ritual believed necessary for spiritual survival. Bone whistle, c. 10,000 bc; in the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford, Eng. Courtesy of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford Whatever their origin, the further development of the enormously varied instruments of the world has been dependent on the interplay of four factors: available material, technological skills, mythic and symbolic preoccupations, and patterns of trade and migration. Thus, residents of Arctic regions use bone, skin, and stone to construct instruments; residents of the tropics have wood, bamboo, and reed available; while societies with access to metals and the requisite technology are able to utilize these malleable materials in a variety of ways. Myth and symbolism play an equally important role.

Herding societies, for example, which may depend on a particular species of animal not only economically but also spiritually, often develop instruments that look or sound like the animal or prefer instruments made of bone and hide rather than stone and wood, even when all the materials are available. Finally, patterns of human trade and migration have for many centuries swept musicians and their instruments across seas and continents, resulting in constant flux, change, and cross-fertilization and adaptation . Flute carved from bone about 32,000 years ago, found in Dordogne, France. It is one of the oldest … © The British Museum/Heritage-Images opera The sound produced by an instrument can be affected by many factors, including the material from which the instrument is made, its size and shape, and the way that it is played. For example, a stringed instrument may be struck, plucked, or bowed, each method producing a distinctive sound. A wooden instrument struck by a beater sounds markedly different from a metal instrument, even if the two instruments are otherwise identical.

On the other hand, a flute made of metal does not produce a substantially different sound from one made of wood, for in this case the vibrations are in the column of air in the instrument. The characteristic timbre of wind instruments depends on other factors, notably the length and shape of the tube. The length of the tube not only determines the pitch but also affects the timbre: the piccolo , being half the size of the flute, has a shriller sound. The shape of the tube determines the presence or absence of the “upper partials” (harmonic or nonharmonic overtones ), which give colour to the single note . (For more on the science of sound, see acoustics .) Musician playing a shakuhachi, a Japanese end-blown flute, … E&E Image Library/Heritage-Images Music: Fact or Fiction? This article discusses the evolution of musical instruments, their structure and methods of sound production, and the purposes for which they have been used. Although it focuses on the families of instruments that have been prominent in Western art music, it also includes coverage of non-Western and folk instruments. General characteristics Ringling Bros.

Folds Its Tent Musical instruments have been used since earliest times for a variety of purposes, ranging from the entertainment of concert audiences to the accompaniment of dances, rituals , work, and medicine . The use of instruments for religious ceremonies has continued down to the present day, though at various times they have been suspect because of their secular associations. The many references to instruments in the Old Testament are evidence of the fact that they played an important part in Jewish worship until for doctrinal reasons they were excluded. It is also clear that the early Christians in the eastern Mediterranean used instruments in their services, since the practice was severely condemned by ecclesiastics, who insisted that the references to instruments in the Psalms were to be interpreted symbolically. Although instruments continue to be banned in Islamic mosques (but not in religious processions or Sufi ritual) and in the traditional Eastern Orthodox church, they play important roles in the ritual of most other societies. For example, Buddhist cultures are rich in instruments, particularly bells and drums (and in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, wind instruments as well). Belief in the magical properties of instruments is found in many societies.

The Jewish shofar (a ram’s horn), which is still blown on Rosh Hashana (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), must be heard by the congregation. The power of the shofar is illustrated by the story of Joshua at the siege of Jericho: when the priests blew their shofars seven times, the walls of the city fell flat. In India, according to legend , when the deity Krishna played the flute, the rivers stopped flowing and the birds came down to listen. The birds are said to have done the same in 14th-century Italy when the composer Francesco Landini played his organetto, or portative organ . In China, instruments were identified with the points of the compass, with the seasons, and with natural phenomena. The Melanesian bamboo flute was a charm for rebirth. Shofar made of ram’s horn in the form of a fish, Ethiopia, 19th century; in the Jewish Museum, New … Graphic House/EB Inc. Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Many of the instruments used in medieval Europe came from western Asia, and they have retained some of their original symbolism.

For example, trumpets , long associated with military operations, had a ceremonial function in the establishment of European kings and nobles and were, in fact, regarded as a sign of nobility. In the later Middle Ages and for long afterward, they were associated with kettledrums (known originally as nakers, after their Arab name, naqqārah), which were often played on horseback, as they still are in some mounted regiments. Trumpet fanfares, heard on ceremonial occasions in the modern world, are a survival of medieval practice. Men in traditional dress playing alphorns at a festival in the town of Mannlichen, Switzerland. Patrick Ward/Corbis Technological developments Conventional Western thinking claimed that the earliest instruments were slightly modified natural objects such as bones, shells, or gourds. They played only one pitch and then evolved into more complex forms. However, it appears that bone flutes from Neanderthal caves had finger holes, and recent archaeological finds in China included bone flutes from 7000 bc that not only have seven finger holes but an additional aperture that may have been drilled to correct a poorly placed hole.

Thus, early humans appear to have been just as sensitive to pitch and tone colour as were most other sentient creatures, such as birds, cats, dogs, and whales. None of the sounds they heard or made moved from simple to complex. Aztec clay versions of shell trumpets imitated the internal chambers of the nautilus; the instruments’ construction may indicate a sophisticated use of the overtone series to obtain varied pitches (as is done on the bugle). The stretched string of a bow can produce several pitches when it is beaten, and the string can be stopped at points along its length to produce varied sounds. In addition, a resonator such as a pot or gourd is often used to increase the volume of the sound. The player’s mouth can add variety to both volume and pitch. A tube of bamboo can become musical when it is struck on the ground, and a set of different-sized tubes can produce a melodic and rhythmic ensemble. Lifting strips of the bark from a tube and adding bridges under the strips creates a melodic zither , for which each strip produces a separate pitch. The sound can be enhanced by placing one end of the tube in a resonator, whether a gourd or a tin can.

In sum, the complexity of music depends less on technology than on human imagination. Lamellaphone with bamboo tongues, from central Africa; in the James Blades Collection. Reid Music Library, The University of Edinburgh, gift of James Blades Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies The first step in the building of any instrument is the selection and preparation of material. Wood used for wind or stringed instruments needs to be seasoned, as do the reeds used in oboes, clarinets, saxophones, and related instruments. Metals, which are widely used for strings, bells, cymbals, gongs, trumpets, and horns, must be manufactured and cast—often originally by secret processes.

Next, the construction and tuning of all instruments require skill and craftsmanship: the piercing of a tube to a uniform or expanding width, the flaring of the bell of a wind instrument to increase sonority, the measurement of the bars of a saron (for the Javanese gamelan) or of a glockenspiel , the curvature of the back of a lute or ʿūd, the internal and external structure of the body of a violin, a koto , or even a shakuhachi. All of these involve accurate workmanship from experts in wood and metal and, in many instances, a knowledge of the mathematics of sound. A Sakha group (from eastern Siberia) playing the khomus, a … Sovfoto The mathematical basis of accurate tuning systems has been the subject of philosophical and scientific speculation since ancient times; nevertheless, no single system has been deemed perfect (see also tuning and temperament ). All practical tuning systems involve a series of compromises, a fact that instrument makers have known for centuries.

An instrument maker, surrounded by guitars and lutes, carving a violin neck in a shop at Colonial … Kelly-Mooney Photography/Corbis Opium Wars The instrument maker’s skill, like that of the cabinetmaker and the silversmith, was developed by long practice, and the principles that determine both tone and intonation were discovered by trial and error. The growth of instrumental playing in 16th-century Europe stimulated the production of instruments to be used not merely for ceremonial and official entertainment but also for social occasions and private pleasure. From this time, records began to be kept of the names of makers, many of whom established family businesses that lasted for several generations. These include, for example, Andrea Amati (16th century), a violin maker in Cremona, Italy; Hans Ruckers (late 16th century), a harpsichord maker in Antwerp, Belg.; and Johann Haas (1649–1723), a trumpet maker in Nürnberg (now in Germany). In all literate cultures there are known families or guilds of instrument makers, e.g., for the Middle Eastern ʿūd, South Asian sitar and vina , or Japanese tsuzumi drums.

Around the world, instrument makers have long signed their products. Although similar respectful positions are held by instrument makers in cultures without a written record, their reputation is far less likely to spread beyond their particular time and place. Typically ornate Hardanger fiddle (detail), a Norwegian folk instrument. © Wulffenstejn Hardanger Fiddle/hardingfele.com Instrument makers have always represented a blend of conservatism with the ability to quickly seize on and use a new constructional technique, a new tool , or a new material. Their contribution to both the history of music and the history of musical instruments has been enormous and little appreciated. The older makers of instruments were craftsmen who took delight in the appearance of their work. In some cases, additions are purely decorative, as when pictures were painted on the inside of harpsichord lids or elaborate patterns were carved onto Indian vinas or inlaid into Persian lutes and drums. The rare set of 9th-century court instruments found in Nara, Japan, includes stunning examples of such artisan skills from all over East Asia. Equal beauty is found on many of the anonymously constructed instruments of Oceania.

Often these additions are symbolic or totemic; the patterns on the Australian didjeridu identify the clan of the performer, and shapes and patterns on instruments in New Guinea reflect aspects of the environment and culture . Similarly, the dragon heads on the end of Tibetan and Chinese woodwinds have a symbolic meaning in those cultures. Most modern Western instruments reject ornamentation, but overall design and finish are as important as they have always been. Modern technology has in many cases simplified or improved the construction of instruments. In the past, for example, the tubes of horns and trumpets were made from a sheet of brass cut to the right width, which was rolled into shape, leaving the edges to be joined by brazing. In modern manufacture the tube is drawn in one piece, and there is no seam. Evolution of design has been particularly notable in the construction of woodwind instruments, not only in the fixing of the metal keys and the mechanism that controls them but also in the piercing of holes in such a way that they are acoustically correct. This achievement was due mainly to the pioneering work of Theobald Boehm , who was not only a flute maker but also a performer and composer.

His system, designed for the flute, was later applied to the clarinet , the oboe , and the bassoon . The early 19th century saw a revolution in the manufacture of brass instruments as well: the addition of pieces of tubing of different lengths through which the air could be directed by the depression of valves (or pistons), enabling an instrument to produce all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, in place of its earlier limitation to the notes of the natural harmonic (overtone) series. Newer techniques of cutting and beating metal have created distinctive modern instruments, such as steel drums. The discovery of plastics in the 20th century also has influenced the manufacturers of instruments; for example, some makers have used plastic instead of quill or leather for the plectra that pluck the strings of the harpsichord, and plastic recorders have been built. Mechanization has made possible the mass production of instruments of all kinds. Insofar as this makes it possible for people to acquire an instrument at a moderate price, mass production is a good thing, and in education it has been beneficial to schools working on a small budget.

A natural development has been the provision of kits consisting of the separate parts of an instrument, which can then be assembled by the purchaser. It remains true, however, that the production of an instrument of the finest quality still demands the highest degree of individual skill. A violin glued together from mass-produced parts cannot be the equal of one that has been meticulously constructed from the first by an individual craftsman who will not be satisfied with his work until every detail of it has been tested. Children in Irish costumes play recorders while marching in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day … Rudi von Briel/PhotoEdit Technology has been of service to music by providing composers with instruments they have asked for, by eliminating some defects of instruments, and by making instruments more widely available to the community in general. Richard Wagner , for example, suggested the need for a baritone double-reed instrument akin to the oboe; the resulting heckelphone has been featured in Richard Strauss ’s opera Salome (1905) and subsequent works. Wagner also ordered a special type of tuba for use in his four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung , 1869–76).

Not all modern changes in construction have been wholly advantageous, however. It is easier to play in tune on a modern woodwind instrument, but the older examples, being less cluttered with metal fittings, had a purer tone. Similarly, the modern horn is to most listeners inferior in tone quality to its 18th-century predecessor. Among Western orchestral instruments, only the trombone and the stringed instruments have remained, apart from minor modifications, unchanged in structure over the centuries (though the substitution of wire strings for gut has materially altered the tone of the violin). In contrast, the rate of technological change in electronic instruments has been almost bewilderingly fast. Classification of instruments Instruments have been classified in various ways, some of which overlap. The Chinese divide them according to the material of which they are made—as, for example, stone, wood, silk, and metal. Writers in the Greco-Roman world distinguished three main types of instruments: wind, stringed, and percussion. This classification was retained in the Middle Ages and persisted for several centuries: it is the one preferred by some writers, with the addition of electronic instruments, at the present day.

Some 16th-century writers excluded certain instruments from this classification; the musical theorist Lodovico Zacconi went so far as to exclude all percussion instruments and established a fourfold division of his own—wind, keyed, bowed, and plucked. Musician playing a changgo, a Korean two-headed drum. Korea Britannica Corp. A different fourfold classification was accepted by Hindus at least as early as the 1st century bc: they recognized stringed instruments, wind instruments, percussion instruments of wood or metal, and percussion instruments with skin heads (i.e., drums). This ancient system—based on the material producing sound—was adopted by the Belgian instrument maker and acoustician Victor-Charles Mahillon , who named his four main classes autophones, or instruments made of a sonorous material that vibrates to produce sound (e.g., bells, rattles); membranophones , in which a stretched skin is caused to vibrate (e.g., drums); aerophones , in which the sound is produced by a vibrating column of air (wind instruments); and chordophones , or stringed instruments.

In their highly influential studies of musical instruments, the Austrian musicologist Erich von Hornbostel and his German colleague Curt Sachs accepted and expanded Mahillon’s basic division, creating the classification now used in most systematic studies of instruments. The name idiophones was substituted for autophones, and each class was subdivided according to a method similar to that used by botanists. A fifth class, electrophones , in which vibration is produced by oscillating electric circuits, was added later. The Table gives examples of instruments that fall within the various categories. Classification and examples of some musical instruments Idiophones polyphonic (producing harmony and simultaneous melodic lines) many synthesizers Many instruments can be played using more than one system of tone production and hence might reasonably appear in several subcategories. The double bass , for example, is usually considered a chordophone whose strings may be bowed or plucked; sometimes, however, the body of the instrument is slapped or struck, placing the double bass among the idiophones.

The tambourine is a membranophone insofar as it has a skin head which is struck; but, if it is only shaken so that its jingles sound, it should be classed as an idiophone, for in this operation the skin head is irrelevant. Open flue stops are the foundation of organ tone, but the instrument also has a number of free reed stops, so that the organ belongs equally to the first and second order of aerophones. Modern composers not infrequently require players to treat their instruments in unorthodox ways, thus changing their position in the classification system. It must be understood that the Sachs-Hornbostel system was created for the purpose of bringing order to the massive collections of musical instruments in ethnographic museums. It is directly analogous to the various book classification systems of libraries and, like them, is arbitrary. Musicians themselves generally think of instruments in terms of their technological features and playing method. To them, therefore, it is logical to group keyboard instruments together, ignoring the fact that in the Sachs-Hornbostel system such instruments fit into several categories. Tambourine with snare and jingles, detail from an early 14th-century English manuscript (add.

… Reproduced by permission of the British Library, London History and evolution There has been speculation about the origin of instruments since antiquity. Older writers were generally content to rely on mythology or legends . In the 19th century, partly as a result of theories of evolution put forward by Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer , new chronologies based on anthropological evidence were advanced. The British writer John Frederick Rowbotham argued that there was originally a drum stage, followed by a pipe stage, and finally a lyre stage. The Austrian writer Richard Wallaschek, on the other hand, maintained that, although rhythm was the primal element, the pipe came first, followed by song , and the drum last. Sachs based his chronology on archaeological excavation and the geographic distribution of the instruments found in them. Following this method, he established three main strata. The first stratum, which is found all over the world, consists of simple idiophones and aerophones; the second stratum, less widely distributed, adds drums and simple stringed instruments; the third, occurring only in certain areas, adds xylophones , drumsticks, and more complex flutes.

In the 21st century, ethnomusicologists have questioned assumptions about the evolution of instruments from simple to complex; see above Technological developments . The development of musical instruments among ancient high civilizations in Asia, North Africa , and the Mediterranean appears to have emphasized stringed instruments. In Central and South America, wind and struck instruments seem to have been most important. It is not always easy to say whether instruments are indigenous to a particular area, however, since their cultivation may well have spread from one country to another through trade or migration. Nevertheless, it is known that the harp was used from early times in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India and was imported into China after the end of the 4th century ad. In Greece it was regarded as a foreign instrument: the standard plucked instrument was the lyre , known in its fully developed form as the kithara (or cithara). Apart from the trumpet, the only wind instrument in normal use in Greece was the aulos , a double-reed instrument akin to the modern oboe. The Egyptians used wind instruments not only with double reeds but also with single reeds and thus may be said to have anticipated the clarinet.

Peculiar to China was the sheng, or mouth organ; the Chinese also used as an artistic instrument the panpipes ( xiao ), which in Greece had a recreational function. Sheng; in the Horniman Museum, London. Courtesy of the Horniman Museum, London; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd. In medieval Europe, many instruments came from Asia, having been transmitted through Byzantium , Spain , or eastern Europe. Perhaps the most notable development in western Europe was the practice, originating apparently in the 15th century, of building instruments in families, from the smallest to the largest size. A typical family was that of the shawms , which were powerful double-reed instruments. A distinction was made between haut (loud) and bas (soft) instruments, the former being suitable for performance out-of-doors and the latter for more intimate occasions. Hence, the shawm came to be known as the hautbois (loud wood), and this name was transferred to its more delicately toned descendant, the 17th-century oboe.

By the beginning of the 17th century the German musical writer and composer Michael Praetorius , in his Syntagma musicum (“Musical Treatise”), was able to give a detailed account of families of instruments of all kinds—recorders, flutes, shawms, trombones, viols, and violins. Percussion instruments Drum ensembles have achieved extraordinary sophistication in Africa, and the small hand-beaten drum is of great musical significance in western Asia and India. The native cultures of the Americas have always made extensive use of drums, as well as other struck and shaken instruments. In Southeast Asia and parts of Africa, xylophones and, since the introduction of metals, their cousins the metallophones play significant roles. Europe, however, has not placed great emphasis on drums and other percussion instruments. (See also percussion instrument .) Kenyah boys playing the jatung utang (a type of xylophone) … © Gini Gorlinski Stringed instruments Many varieties of plucked instruments were found in Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; but bowed instruments eventually came to characterize the area, and they played an important role in the rest of Eurasia and in North Africa as well.

The idea of playing a stringed instrument with a bow may have originated with the horse cultures of Central Asia , perhaps in the 9th century ad. The technique then spread rapidly over most of the European landmass. The European fiddle existed in various forms: by the 16th century these had settled down into two distinct types—the viol , known in Italy as viola da gamba (leg fiddle), and the violin , or viola da braccio (arm fiddle). The viol has a flat back, sloping shoulders, and six or seven strings; the violin has a rounded back, rounded shoulders, and four strings. The viol, unlike the violin, has frets—pieces of gut wound at intervals around the fingerboard—which make every stopped note (i.e., the string being pressed by the finger to produce a higher pitch) sound like an open (unstopped) string. The violin, being the smallest member of the family, came to be known by the diminutive violino: the tenor of the family was called simply viola, while the bass acquired the name violoncello , a diminutive of violone (“big fiddle”).

(See also stringed instrument .) Man playing a bass viol, from Christopher Simpson’s The Division-Violist (1659); in … Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum, London; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd. Keyboard instruments Only in Europe did the keyboard develop—for reasons that are not clear. The principle of the keyboard has been used successfully to control bells (the carillon), plucked and struck stringed instruments (the piano and harpsichord), and wind instruments (the organ , the accordion , and the harmonium). Of all instruments, the organ showed the most remarkable development from the early Middle Ages to the 17th century. Originally, sound was admitted to the pipes by withdrawing sliders or depressing levers. Both of these methods were clumsy: they gave way to a reduction in the size of the levers, which eventually could be depressed by the fingers, while the larger pipes were controlled by pedals. A further development was to separate the various rows of pipes, so that each row could be brought into action or suppressed by means of a draw stop .

Once a manageable keyboard had been produced, it could be applied to the portable organ, carried by the player, which was already in use by the 12th century. Scientific experiments with the monochord , a stretched string that could be divided into various lengths by means of a metal tangent, were followed by the construction of an instrument with a whole range of strings and a keyboard similar to that of the organ—the clavichord . A similar adaptation of the plucking of stringed instruments led to the harpsichord , the ingenious mechanism of which had been perfected by the 16th century. It is curious that a similar method was not applied to the dulcimer , which was struck with hammers, until the early 18th century, when the Italian maker Bartolomeo Cristofori constructed the first pianoforte , so-called because, unlike the harpsichord, it could vary the tone from soft (piano) to loud (forte).

(See also keyboard instrument .) The Bruckner Organ, 18th century; in the church of the Abbey of Sankt Florian, Austria Toni Schneiders Wind instruments In Europe the practice of constructing instruments in families continued from the 17th century onward. English composers wrote for the tenor hautbois, the intermediate oboe d’amore, and the bass, or baritone, oboe. The clarinet (the name means “little trumpet”) emerged at the end of the 17th century and, like the oboe, developed into a family extending to a contrabass clarinet in the 19th century and later a subcontrabass. It established itself only gradually in the orchestra in the course of the 18th century. Trumpets and horns were used in most areas of Eurasia for ceremonial and military purposes. They remained relatively unchanged until the early 19th century, when valves were added to European instruments. This modification also led to the creation of new types.

A pioneer in the field was the Belgian instrument maker Antoine-Joseph Sax , who in 1845 built a family of valved instruments called saxhorns , using the bugle as the basis for his invention . Similar instruments were widely adopted in military and brass bands, but only the bass, under the name bass tuba, became a normal member of the orchestra. Sax also invented the saxophone , a single-reed instrument like the clarinet but with a conical tube. This, too, was made in various sizes, which came to be used both in military bands and in jazz ensembles. The saxophone never became a normal member of the symphony orchestra, but the alto and the tenor have been used by art-music composers, largely as solo instruments, and occasionally a complete quartet of four different sizes has appeared in an orchestral work. (See also wind instrument .) Alto saxophone. musical instrument - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Devices that produce musical sounds, musical instruments may be used for ritual or ceremony, entertainment, or private enjoyment.

The vast numbers of such devices have been classified in a variety of ways, but no system can be completely satisfactory because there are too many different elements. The system that has been most generally accepted is a classification based on the way in which sound is produced by the instrument. In this system instruments are divided into aerophones, or wind instruments; chordophones, or stringed instruments; membranophones, or drums; idiophones, or percussion instruments other than drums; and electrophones, or electronic instruments. (See also electronic instruments; percussion instruments; stringed instruments; wind instruments; band; orchestra.) Article Contributors Best Musical Instruments - Top Ten List - TheTopTens® Best Musical Instruments 1 Electric Guitar Defiantly guitars, I mean let's try to make this realistic, who really plays the bagpipes? Wow I just laughed really hard, you are hilarious.. I know this comment has no point but just had to put that out there! The most flexible instrument in the world. Whilst other instruments such as bagpipes and violin are beautiful in their own right, electric guitar can master sounds like rock, jazz, blues, classical sounds etc... Although I do like bagpipes...

I respectfully crank my guitar and max distort in your face The electric guitar can do so much. From Jazz to Heavy metal, clean sound to super distorted. You can create your own sound and style. You Can play really simple, fun riffs or technical solos. It's mind-boggling how many different ways there are to play. You can bend, tap, use the whammy bar (if you have one), scratch etc. And don't even get get me started on different effect pedals and tunings. Basically, the electric guitar is the best instrument ever. I play electric guitar and I love it it is unique and easy to play, this is definitely the best musical instrument V 147 Comments 2 Piano The piano is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands. It sounds beautiful! It's wonderful! This is the one that sounds beautiful and awesome! The songs sound so nice! The piano is the instrument that gives everyone the happiness and joy EVERYDAY! I play piano, and it's very fun, simple, and, once you've been playing it for a few years, people think you're awesome.

Piano should be in first place. It can play music in every single genre, is simple to learn but can always be improved, and is the easiest to learn music technique on! V 265 Comments 3 Drums Drums gives a rhythm to every piece of music. The beat is very powerful, and the it makes every song sounds even better. Drums give rhythm and sound to every song - IceCream With it's solid heart-shaking kicks, striking rollings which can be done on snare, and it's king-like appearance, drums definitely can be said to be the king of all musical instruments. Drums make people feel that music is very cool. The thrashing sound can only be done on no other musical instrument except the cymbal of drums. Long live drums. Whenever I play you I gain so much peace that I cannot express it in words. Drums is my favourite musical instrument. I play the drums and they make everyone want to dance to the beat V 109 Comments 4 Saxophone The saxophone is different. Sure, you meet many people who can get beautiful tones on the clarinet or flute, play the drums or bagpipes, but the saxophone speaks for itself.

The electric guitar might be able to do a lot, and classical instruments like the violin, viola or cello, but the sax (alto, in particular) is so satisfying, relaxing and lovely. It's not about difficulty at all, for example, do you ever feel hesitant about getting out your instrument and playing it? The sax isn't like that. Never. It's obviously not hard to see how it can capture so many people's hearts. I used to play classical, and felt that as much as I liked it, I wanted to try jazz. And I did. And it made me realise that whilst I had been complaining about the task of practising, I had been missing out on so much that is so useful, and brings joy to people. So to all you saxophone players out there like me - keep on playing and don't give up. The saxophone has a world of its own, of jazz, waiting to be ... more The saxophone is jazzy, can be loud, soft, and can sound like a brass or woodwind instrument. It is the instrument that balances out brass and woodwind. This is why I like it so much.

Saxophone is by far the most romantic and sexiest instrument and its not merely any instrument its number 1 for me and I've met a lot of people with the same opinion. I really think that everyone can enjoy good sax and jazz songs cause they can be also chill out songs. It can be used as a soothing instrument in jazz songs, or create a dance-able beat in R&B songs. - MistyMay113 V 131 Comments 5 Violin The violin is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use. Good luck and I play violin and it is so so fun I love it but I reckon violin could of made it to the top 3 but I don't get why the bag pipes are number 1 no body I know really has a bagpipe or even play the bagpipes! But I see their point Violin is good accompaniment in heavy music, melodic metal, even hiphop. Dracula's favorite instrument.

I am in 4th grade and I will be in 5th next year and there is band next year and they don't have the violin and that is what I wanted to play I am very mad to play the violin is my dream Come on :// violin should be #2 after the piano V 113 Comments 6 Bass Guitar Bass guitar is probably the most underrated and underrespected instruments out there. And it's also one of the best sounding! Electric guitarists get all the fame because they make it look easy but the fact is it IS easy (compared to bass or acoustic). Bass players on the other hand, deserve far more respect than they get. If you disagree that bassists get disrespected just go to The Uncyclopedia and look up bass guitar. Poor John Deacon is so underrated and really, all of them are, but he is my favorite. If I had to play an instrument, this would be it. But I already play drums. (I am not that good. ) But anyway, I REALLY love the sound, it sounds so cool... Listen to "Invisible Man" by Queen, and it sounds AWESOME. Also, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love".

BASS FOREVER Far more important than electric guitar. A band can survive with just bass and drums, guitars, keyboards or even saxophones are merely the decoration on the musical cake that is the rhythm section. - Christian.H.Mills Just go and listen to cliff burton V 43 Comments 7 Acoustic Guitar An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces sound acoustically - by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air - as opposed to relying on electronic amplification. Absolutely. It's harder than bass and electric, so it produces a clearer sound. I play instruments from all the categories and guitar is easily the best. It's like no other sound. It refreshes that need for sound quality. I love playing acoustic guitar. This is a very modern guitar! Very cool! Its very cool I really want to learn how to play this instruments - lovingicecreams V 59 Comments 8 Flute Flute definitely deserves to be on this list because it is the hardest of the woodwind instruments to master. 60% of a flute players air doesn't even make it into the instrument. If you have ever made a noise by blowing across a beer bottle... It is way harder.

I play this instrument in a symphony setting and get paid more than most of the other instrumentalists. I would put the flute over any woodwind instruments. It is definitely the hardest woodwind instrument to play. It doesn't have a reed which makes it harder to play because it requires more air, not to mention the fingerings. But once you've mastered the flute, it is an amazing instrument to play. I think flutes deserve at least a 3! I've played for 4 years so far, and it helps me play piano; by changing my fingering a lot. I play in school band and practice about 20 minutes EVERY DAY at home. At least. The sound range is pretty nice, you can go really high. It is rather difficult to get the sound right sometimes, but it's not nearly as pricy as some other instruments. I carry my flute around nearly all day and it is so light and portible. I LOVE MY FLUTE! Flute players deserve a lot more credit than they get! They use a lot of air to play their instrument and if they are sick, it is very hard.

They also have to play very high where no one else can and when you have to be soft it is very hard. Flutes deserve at least a 3! V 75 Comments 9 Guitar I love all guitars so I couldn't jut chose electric or acoustic, they are fun to play and are used is so many genres. I love the guitar (Yes I know ELP is my favorite band, and they didn't have guitar. ) BUT FOR PETE'S SAKE THIS IS THE GUITAR WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. THIS IS POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUMENT IN MUSIC IN THE LAST TWO CENTURIES. Guitars of any matter are amazing! Acoustic guitars give songs a nice feel and electric guitars give songs an exciting feel! - Lina1028 I actually have my OWN guitar (Best birthday gift well top 5 at least) the color is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING the color is Black mix with red and playing a guitar is fun,addicting and the sound is beautiful V 16 Comments 10 Trumpet Trumpet is the bomb in any latin band. It's also important in any big/show/stage band.

It can also can also rock a seedy jazz bar. Honestly it's like singing just better. =D I have played the trumpet for 4 years and it is an amazing instrument to play. You can reach a range of all different notes with it and it can handle all genres. Trumpet is probably the best instrument because it sounds, just beautiful. I love the sound of the trumpet. The trumpet is DEFINITELY the best instrument! Trumpet is the best and very underrated by people! The Contenders 11 Clarinet The clarinet is the best instrument ever. It is right in the middle of the flute and saxophone yet is small and lightweight. It has the largest range of notes music styles and dynamics of any woodwind instrument. It is also the most important instrument to any concert band's sound. The clarinet has the largest range of different members of its family. The clarinet can be used in marching bands, symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, jazz bands, big bands, latin jazz, rock n roll, pop, commercial music, country, samba, or salsa music. The clarinet Iis one of the most expressivec and flexible instruments ever created, having a tone and range closest to the human voice.

It can sound expressive as a solo instrument or as a section. CLARINETS ARE AMAZING. The clarinet is the pathway to learning basically any woodwind instrument. When you learn the clarinet, that makes it easy to learn any saxophone, flute, any other kind of clarinet, etc. With the clarinet there is no limit as to how high your range goes - you can define your range by how far you are willing to go, which is a unique and great quality. The clarinet sounds beautiful and has a full, dark, and rich tone. You can also play a variety of different styles of music on the clarinet. Although the clarinet embrouchure is perhaps the hardest to develop correctly, the instrument is otherwise not terrible to learn. I fell in love with the clarinet, have you? It's a hard woodwind instrument to play. When you master it it makes it less difficult for you to play other woodwind instruments. It is easy to learn and makes a soothing sound.

V 52 Comments 12 Keyboards I kind of think this is pretty much a more modern and cheaper version of a piano and the only difference is you can't look inside it for the strings and it's electrical but same sound and stuff. Keyboards are practically the same as pianos and they are more fun because you can try out different sounds, if you can play the key board you can play anything! They make most of the other best interments in one. I love it more than even a guitar. I recommend you try a keyboard because I love it hope you will to I think keyboard should be higher than piano. After all piano is also a keyboard. - zxm V 21 Comments 13 Cello The cello is an amazing instrument, that has the perfect tone. It has a sound that no band instrument can compete with. A cello can accompany virtually any instrument, while it can also play beautiful solos. This instrument, is the best instrument ever invented. The cello allows me to express myself in ways that I could have never imagined.

It has taken me places I could have never dreamed of going, and it has given me the chance to see things that I had never noticed, both musical and non-musical. There is no musical instrument on planet Earth that can be as expressive as a cello. Yes, it's not often the main part of some symphony orchestra, but it makes the melodies even more beautiful. I've often wondered why bands don't sound as good as orchestras, and this is the reason. V 67 Comments 14 Voice I am a big singer and have been singing for about ten years. It can be loud, soft, and can copy any sound. It is one of the hardest of all instruments because you can tune a violin or a cello but it is hard to tune a voice. Once you get the hang of it, you can add your own special touches to any song. The human voice is the most emotional, diverse and natural instrument in the world. The possibilities can be infinite since you never know what you're going to get. Also, it can be altered like other instruments with machinery. An instrument anyone can play!

- DoubleTreble There's no better instrument than the voice, singing is like a talent that same people are good at and some people are not but not like other instruments the voice is natural and gives more chances. It is peace to harmony. I love to sing. This is a great choice and the only better instrument is the euphonium V 32 Comments 16 Harp Where on earth is the harp on this list? To me the most beautiful sounding instrument. Wont do for every situation but for the right song nothing does the job more beautifully. I have always wanted to try the harp before I got my flute! The sound is just so romantic and beautiful that I fell head over heels when I first heard it! :D but the problem is that they could be really hard to play and they are SUPER EXPENSIVE! I would not recommend them to any family with a tight budget because they can be anywhere up to 1,000,000 Dollers or sometimes even more! With their beautiful sounds but expensive prices I would prefer just 'borrowing' one from someone and try it out. Try your local music shop and see what they recommend.

The harp is a beautiful sounding instrument, but over summer holidays I just "forgot" to play it as I am very impatient and it is quite hard... I'm 10 playing the flute but my next instrument on the list is the Harp... V 5 Comments 17 Ukulele The ukulele is awesome instrument to learn and is really fun to play along to songs and sing with as well. It makes an amazing sound and easily cheers up anyone on a very bad day! It is easy too learn too, and is very good if you want to learn the guitar and definitely easier to learn if you already know how to play the guitar. UKULELE = TOTAL OWNAGE The ukulele is such a versatile instrument. Hands down the best instrument to play on chill and relaxing days. It relieves one's stress with just a couple chords. While you can't get the raw power of an electric guitar, you get more of melodic, comforting sound. Definitely belongs in the top three, not rank 15 (how did the bag pipes get a better score haha) Ukuleles can play all genres and are hugely under appreciated.

They are suitable substitutes to most overused instruments and deserve to be at the top of this list. I LOVE UKULELE! I play ukulele and so does my third grade teacher! V 38 Comments 18 Synthesizer In complete honesty, if you hate the sound the synthesizer makes then you must hate music yourself. How is it not #1, it can do anything! I know the guitar, piano and violin are all very traditional, but this may be the instrument of the future, if not already the instrument of the time. It can be used right, it just isn't being used right with popular music nowadays. - Donut No. Synths can only replicate the instrument sound to a certain level so it usually ends up sounding nothing like the actual instrument - AlbertAngrySami Synthesizer should be #1 on this list because they can make literally ANY SOUND. Guitar? You got it. Piano? Yep. Violin? Absolutely. You name the instrument, a synth can emulate it. Yep, it can emulate it and turn it into a complete joke.

Not that it can't be used right, but more often than not it isn't and even when used right trying to actually compare it to the instrument it's being used to mimic is laughable. - dubsinthetubs I disagree. Sure, Synths can make any sound but it will never truly replicate the sound of many instruments This shouldn't even count as an instrument V 10 Comments 19 Xylophone You know why no one takes the xylophone seriously? It's because the only types that are ever seen are baby toys. It is so much more than how it often appears to us. Also, it's great to make and makes a fun project! I love xylophones! They sound like skeletons! Those sound pretty and are easy to play. I have a xylophone V 1 Comment 20 Harmonica It's great for the blues! If you're looking to play some great but sad song then the harmonica is all yours This instrument is handy. You can play anywhere, and anytime. Understated. Does everything you want/can think of. From Jazz and blues, to rock and roll if you stick a pedal and an amp on it.

And if you get bored, practice beatbox and play it making your own baseline! I just love the sound, it's just so fun!

Question: Which musical instrument is known as a "gob-stick"?
Answer: CLARINET